site.btaParticipants in Plein Air Painting Workshop Join Commemoration of Freedom Fighter Vasil Levski in Bosilegrad

The 187th birth anniversary of Bulgaria's national hero Vasil Levski was celebrated on Thursday in Bosilegrad, a town in Southern Serbia which is home to a sizeable community of ethnic Bulgarians.

The Apostle of Freedom was commemorated by guests from Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Serbia, who gathered at Levski's monument in downtown Bosilegrad on the initiative of the local GLAS Association and the St Kliment Ohridski Student Community Centre in Sofia. The two organizations are behind the fourth international plein air painting workshop Bosilegrad in Colour, taking place in the Serbian town from July 15 to 20. Participants in the workshop were among those who laid flowers at Levski's monument.

At the ceremony, the hosts spoke about the importance of the monument for the Bulgarian community in Serbia. The monument was built in 2005 on the initiative of local Bulgarian patriots with the support of organizations and individuals from Bulgaria.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the participants in the workshop toured landmarks in the Bosilegrad area, among them Lake Vlasina and the village of Bozica. On Wednesday, the guests from North Macedonia and Serbia travelled to Kyustendil in Southwestern Bulgaria, where they visited the Vladimir Dimitrov-Maystora Art Gallery, a historic religious school and the town church.